Advocates of Spirits
by CrimsonSilver
Summary: In the worlds of Tales a shadow is devouring the spirits that govern the elements. The heroes must band together across time, space, and realms to keep everything and everyone from dying. Rating updated to T due to mild language.
1. Prologue

Behold the power of boredom! Here's a really short prologue! YAY!

* * *

The late summer night was calm and clear. Aselia's two moons were high in the sky, casting their silver and gold light upon the sleeping world. A slight breeze carried the soft smells of flowers into Colette Brunel's open window. The breeze toyed with her golden hair as Colette turned in her sleep. The house was quiet. Phiadra and Frank had gone to bed not long after Sylvarant's last chosen. Lloyd, Genis, and Raine had been over at the Brunel's house that day. They had joked and laughed all through dinner, fully enjoying the peace that had blanketed their world now that all were safe from the treat of Cruxis. It was long after the last of the sun's rays had faded when the visitors left. Colette turned once again. She had gone to bed happy. But her dreams were plagued with a shadow; a shadow that descended onto her world from the stars. This was not the first time that she had this dream, but she ignored it, saying it was simply memories of her previous journeys. They were not exactly fun journeys, and both her father and grandmother said that the dreams would fade in time. Aska flew over Iselia, and landed on the Martel Cathedral. Suddenly he disappeared. Light from the Tower of Mana faded, and an anguished cry from Luna pierced the night. Then she too disappeared. The world slept on.

* * *

Said it was short. I don't own the names of anything or anyone here, Namco does. This is based off the game Tales of Symphonia. Reviews are welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

Because of how short the Prologue was, here's chapter 1!

* * *

"Come, Efreet!" Klarth F. Lester yelled as the red circle beneath his feet disappeared. Out from the Earth a little ways in front of Klarth a large, red, fiery body appeared. The large spirit turned toward Klarth, then froze.

"Efreet? Efreet answer your summoner!" Klarth demanded. A piece fell off of Efreet. Klarth jumped, and started leafing rapidly through the pages of his book.

"Milard!" Klarth yelled. "Milard come here!"

The door behind Klarth banged open, and a tall, blue-haired woman stood in the doorway.

"Klarth," she said softly. "I was just in the middle of-"

"Shhhh! Milard look at Efreet."

Milard did as she was told. Another piece fell off the fire spirit. Milard gasped. She ran inside, and then reappeared a few seconds' later, arms full of books. She kneeled to the ground and started flipping through them. Again a chunk of the frozen Efreet fell and disintegrated before it hit the ground. Klarth was pacing around Efreet mumbling to himself.

"How strange, perhaps it's because he was summoned in a time other then the one in which the pact was made. But that shouldn't matter. I summon thee, Sylph!" Sylph appeared, already frozen. All that remained of her was her rapidly disappearing hair. Klarth was in a near state of panic. What if all the spirits were disappearing? What was the cause? Could he fix it? What became of the spirits already gone? Could they be restored? Pieces of Efreet started to disintegrate faster and faster. His body collapsed into nothing. Klarth swore loudly.

"Damn it! What the hell is wrong with the spirits? What if- the Eternal Sword! Cless had better be aware!"

"What if it's only in our time?" Milard asked. "Cless is fifty years ahead." She put her hand on her husbands' arm. Klarth shook his head.

"Something has gone wrong with the spirits, and they transcend time."

Then something more happened.

"Klarth, look!" Milard exclaimed. She pointed towards the multitude of books on the study's shelves. They too were disappearing. Klarth ran to the bookshelves.

"Everything about the spirits is vanishing! All of my research, gone!" He could not believe what he was seeing. One book only diminished in size. Klarth gingerly picked it up.

"All of your pact rings are gone too!" Milard called from their bedroom. Her voice drifted to Klarth as if he were far away. He looked down at the finger he kept the diamond pact ring on. It was still there. Origin had not yet been touched.

"Make good choices!"

"Yeah, yeah Dad!" A girl with long, bushy pink hair bounced out of a cabin near a cliff.

"Don't do anything reckless!"

"Sheesh Dad, I'm just going flying!"

A man walked out of the cabin.

"Arche-"

"Dad! I've saved the world already! I'll be fine!"

"That is sort of recklessness I'm talking about, Arche."

Arch rolled her eyes. She yelled, "See you tonight, Dad!", as she ran down and away from her house. She pulled out her broomstick and flung one leg over it. She jumped, and stuck in the air.

"Oh, come on!" Arche pulled up with all her might. The broomstick slowly ascended.

"Come on, I didn't eat that much!"

The broom still struggled up. Arche kicked the broom multiple times. Slowly, up and up it went. Finally it was at a respectable distance from the ground.

"Tch, I don't weight that much." Arche complained.

The ride was very jerky. The broom would fly straight for a while, and then suddenly drop tens of feet. Then she would have to struggle to get the broom back up. Fed up with fighting for a smooth ride, Arche decided to stop by Klarth's house in Euclid village for answers. When she arrived at the house, there was a tangible panic in the air.

"Klarth?" Arche asked uncertainly as she stepped through the open front door. Milard had always kept the front door shut. "Milard?"

"Arche." Milard came out of the bedroom in the back and clasped Arche's free hand. "Is, everything all right?" Milard asked tentatively. Arche could tell that something terrible had happened here from the question.

"What's up?" Arche inquired, forgetting about her broom troubles presently.

"Why don't you tell us?" Milard pushed. She was defiantly hiding something.

"My broom was acting up earlier. I came to ask Klarth if Volt was if a mood or something."

"Volt. Is gone." Came a shaky voice from behind one of the bookshelves.

"Klarth?" Arche pulled her hand from Milard's grasp and moved towards Klarth. He was sitting near an empty bookshelf, a thin book in hand. "Did someone steal your books! Who'd wanna do that!" she exclaimed.

"No." Klarth's voice came dryly. "they're gone because the spirits whose information was contained within them, have disappeared."

"Ha Ha Klarth. Very funny." Arche said. Although an icy hole inside her told her this was no joke.

"No Arche. They're gone. All gone. We watched as Efreet and the rest of Sylph disintegrated." Milard said.

"But-."

"Not all of them. Origin is still around." Klarth whispered.

"So we need to get to Cless. Let's head to Thor while my broom still sorta works."

"Thor won't work. It needs Aska's power to send us through time. And Aska's gone."

"But Cless is less sensitive to the Mana around him then a rock!" Arche exclaimed. "And Chester is even worse then he is!"

"Mint should have noticed, she is a healer after all." Milard helped.

Klarth shook his head. "Not unless lack of spirits in this time makes an noticeable change in her time."

* * *

Yeah. I married Klarth and Milard. You all are going to have to deal with the pairings that I like, but don't worry nothing weird. I do not own the people or places, Namco does. Reviews are welcome.


	3. Chapter 3

Arche slumped to the floor. "I feel sick," she groaned. Milard put her hand on Arche's shoulder. "I just don't get it. There was no warning, no reason, nothing to point to this disaster. Everything seemed fine." Milard murmured.

"I feel sick." Klarth swallowed.

Arche frowned, "I just said that."

"No, I really feel sick." Klarth turned towards the open front door. "I feel sick." He hastened out of the door.

"Klarth!" Milard ran out after her husband. Arche followed. She nearly bumped into Klarth, as he had stopped not far from the door. She opened her mouth to complain, and then caught sight of the village. All three stood there, gaping at the sight.

Everything had grayed. The once vibrantly blue sky was now sickly and pale. The grass' and trees' colors had drained to barely a shadow of their healthy greens and browns. Even the color of the stone buildings had grayed to make the walls look almost one-dimensional. The warm summer air was dry and carried the dust of unfertile soil. The sun was nearly white; it shone its unprotected, damaging rays directly onto the earth.

"You shouldn't be outside so unclothed." A soft voice came floating to the stunned Klarth, Milard, and Arche. Klarth turned his head towards the woman. She was dressed on dark, long robes. Her skin, hair, and face were completely covered, only her eyes were visible through a dark, mesh screen. She was holding a pail of gray, seemingly intangible water.

"Are you ill? Go back inside and cover yourselves before you get badly burned by the Sun." the woman looked strangely at them.

"AHHH! Ow, OWCH! Klarth she's right!" Arche was cradling her left arm; the exposed skin was starting to bubble. Milard gasped, took Arche's shoulder, and led her back inside. Klarth looked on in horror.

"What has happened?" he cried.

"Nothing." The woman spoke with question in her voice. "You must be from The Underground. No, we who live Aboveground must stay covered or be killed by the Sun."

"Underground? People other than dwarves live underground?"

"Of course. If you are not from Underground, then why is it you knew not about the Sun?"

"Because it wasn't like this five minutes ago!" Klarth threw his arm to encompass the village.

"You are insane, the world has always been this way. You must have Fever, stay away!" she ran quickly from Klarth.

"What the – Ack!" he touched his cheek. His skin too started to bubble. Klarth ran inside and shut the door fast behind him.

Inside, Arche was sitting by the table. Her arm outstretched while Milard was working to cool the sunburn. Arche's face was white and drawn with pain, and she was holding back tears. Klarth went to the table and looked more closely at her arm. There was no skin where the bubbles once were; the surrounding area was an angry red.

"Klarth, your cheek…" Arche choked. Milard looked up from here ministrations.

"Oh, Klarth." Milard handed him a cloth soaked in water. He put it on his cheek.

"Water feels different." He grumbled.

"But it still cools the same." Milard admonished. She was know applying a Panacea Bottle to Arche's arm.

Klarth sat heavily in a chair. He fingered the diamond pact ring still present on his hand. "Origin is the only one keeping everyone alive. But, with the whole world relying so heavily on his power, he won't last long."

"That's what I love about you, your immense positively." Arche dryly joked as she inspected her wrapped arm.

Milard was now tending to Klarth's cheek. "I need to go see Origin. If anyone can explain what's going on, he can. I'm going to need robes like that lady had, Lemon Gels, Pineapple Gels, Panacea Bottles, and", Klarth flicked the tub of lifeless water, "some of this stuff." Milard finished tending to Klarth.

"I'll get the gald you need, your bag, and throw a blanket over you before you head for the shop, the burns are nasty."

A little while later, Milard emerged from the bedroom. Both Arche and Klarth took a blanket and threw them over their heads. Klarth took the bag and gald, then he and Arche left.

* * *

Once Klarth and Arche had finished purchasing their supplies, they returned to Milard. They left her some food and a robe. Now the two friends were walking, solemnly, towards to Euclid Village exit. The town seemed strangely eerie, it's residents more like ghosts than people. As they went thought their daily lives, the usual spark that characterized the friendly village was gone. The people simply went through the motions of life. Pouring gray water on faded plants, struggling to thrive in the nearly dead soil. Buildings were crumbling under the strange Sun. There was no children outdoors. Klarth and Arche kept walking, soil crunching under their feet. They trudged along in silence, out of Euclid Village, toward Ymir Forest and the Elvin village.

* * *

Okay, another chapter done! Now, I used Panacea Bottle to heal the burns because, as far as I can remember, Tales doesn't have a 'burn' status effect, and Panacea heal both physical and magical ailments. If Tales does have a 'burn' status, and a status specific healing item, please let me know so I can fix it! Reviews are, of course, welcomed.


End file.
